Turning Last Night's Leftovers Into Robots
Engineers turned discarded crustacean shells into bio-hybrid robot parts that are stronger and more flexible than traditional components.
If you haven’t seen enough videos of robots stumbling around and falling down lately, then let me remind you that our best creations pale in comparison to what exists in the natural world. Even the priciest quadrupedal robots are at best a poor imitation of a dog, and I don’t think I need to tell you how far humanoid robots are from us in terms of their capabilities.
For this reason, many robot engineers have taken to copying nature’s designs. But these copies are typically built with plastics, metals, and all of the other materials that normally go into a robot. That puts these artificial creations at a distinct disadvantage. The physical makeup of biological organisms is a key factor in their agility.
A trio of researchers at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne are now working to more faithfully replicate natural systems. In particular, they found that by working with discarded crustacean shells, they can build robot bodies that have more strength and flexibility than any artificial materials.
Their work takes a bio-hybrid approach by creating robotic systems that don’t just mimic biology, but incorporate it. Specifically, the team repurposed langoustine abdomen exoskeletons, the segmented shells typically thrown away as food waste. These exoskeletons naturally combine rigid, mineralized plates with flexible joints, giving crustaceans incredible mobility and torque while maintaining structural strength. By leveraging these existing biological structures, the researchers gain access to material properties that would be extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce synthetically.
To turn these discarded shells into functioning robot components, the team embedded elastomers inside each exoskeleton segment, allowing precise control over bending. The segments were then mounted on a motorized base that can modulate stiffness and movement. A final silicone coating helps protect the biological material and extend its usable lifespan.
With these augmentations, the researchers successfully demonstrated three robotic systems. The first is a manipulator capable of lifting and positioning objects up to 500 grams—impressive considering the exoskeleton itself weighs only about 3 grams. The second application uses a pair of exoskeletons as gripper “fingers,” able to grasp objects ranging from pens to tomatoes. The third is a small swimming robot propelled by two exoskeletal fins, reaching speeds of 11 centimeters per second.
After use, the biological and synthetic components can be separated; the biodegradable shell eventually breaks down, while motors, elastomers, and other parts can be reused. That makes this one of the first demonstrated examples of robotic hardware built directly from food waste with an eye toward recycling and sustainability.
While natural materials introduce challenges—every exoskeleton is slightly different, leading to variations in motion—the researchers believe smarter control algorithms and improved synthetic augmentation can compensate. And beyond langoustines, they see opportunities across countless species and scales.
As this study shows, nature continues to outperform many of our engineered alternatives—and may hold the key to building robots that finally move with something approaching biological grace.